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August Rains

Roscoe in Years Gone By

(from The Abilene Reporter, November 26, 1909)

LOCAL TEACHERS IN ROSCOE TODAY-----WHERE TEXAS & PACIFIC TEACHERS ASSOCIATION IS IN A 2 DAYS’ SESSION-----FIVE WILL BE ON PROGRAM-----Attendance Likely to Reach 250, with Teachers from Every Point of Good Size in Central West Texas-----

Some twenty-five, possibly thirty, instructors in the various schools of Abilene boarded the early morning westbound train today for Roscoe, where the Texas & Pacific Teachers’ Association convened this morning at nine o’clock. The Abilene delegation will be absent from the city until Saturday night at midnight. They were joined here by teachers from the rural communities.

Five local instructors will participate in the program. Superintendent J. H. Burnett will deliver an address on “Some difficulties that a superintendent has to solve.” Principal E. B. Looney of the High School will discuss Latin in the High School. Mrs. E. W. Vawter will talk on how to deal with tardiness, the Round Table will be discussed by Miss Anna Evans, while Mrs. Nannie E. Avriett will discuss nature study in the second grade.

The large attendance of teachers may be explained by the fact that the school board granted the teachers of the public schools a holiday that they might attend. This is rather an unprecedented step and shows that the board is determined that Abilene shall not only not be behind in such matters, but shall actually take the initiative.

The Texas & Pacific, Roscoe Snyder & Pacific, and Orient roads granted a fare of one and a third for the association. Sweetwater entertained all teachers who came over the Orient and waited there for connections. It is estimated that the total attendance of teachers will be between two hundred and two hundred and fifty teachers from such points as Abilene, Merkel, Trent, Sweetwater, Cisco, Baird, Big Springs, Midland, Roby, Stanton, Colorado City, Haskell, Snyder, and Anson.

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Plowboy Football

Local Wildlife

This was the first time I'd seen my garden buddy since early spring..

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Roscoe Receives First Snowfall of the Year

View of my back yard on Monday morning.

On some weeks, the weather is merely an afterthought, while on others it is a main event. This past weekend has been one of the latter for Roscoe. After a stretch of warm, sunny weather, a cold front blew in, and the area first received a nice rain, followed a couple of days later with another front and its first significant snow of the year.

The weather went from sunny last Wednesday to cloudy and cool on Thursday and Friday with highs in the fifties and lows in the thirties. Then on early Saturday morning, the area got the rain predicted by the forecasters. Amounts ranged from four-tenths of an inch up to an inch, depending on location. Roscoe got about half an inch, south of town three quarters, and west of town also three quarters.

Saturday afternoon was sunny and beautiful with highs in the sixties, but Sunday was cold and cloudy, and about a three-inch snow fell late Sunday night and Monday morning. The high on Monday was 32°F followed by a low of 21°, and yesterday’s high was only 28° with a low of 21° and enough wind to put the wind chill down to 10° at times.

The forecast is for clear, sunny weather with temperatures rising somewhat into days with highs in the forties or fifties.

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DOWN MEMORY LANE: SLEDDING WITH THE BOYS CLUB

The snow brought to mind similar storms experienced here in the past. Sometimes when we were kids, there would be a big snow, and school would be called off because the buses couldn’t make it to all the kids on their routes.

Such announcements were a cause for great celebration, and as soon as my brothers and I could bundle ourselves up with jackets, toboggans, and gloves or mittens, we’d head straight to the Roscoe Times Office, where several other boys would also gather for a morning of sled and inner-tube riding.

In the back of the Times Office there was a big, wooden sled, constructed by some of the local carpenters and made just for such occasions. It had two 2” x 4” runners beneath a piece of plywood about two feet wide and four feet long. In front, there was a guard of some sort and a place to tie a rope. The other end of the rope was tied to the back of George Parks’s “moose wagon” with about 25’ or so of play between the bumper and the sled when the rope was extended.

There was also a big inner tube from a tractor tire that was stored in the Times Office. A rope would also be tied around it and attached to the back of the moose wagon. If I remember correctly, the inner tube would be at a greater distance behind the vehicle than the sled.

Once everything was ready, two or three boys would get on the sled, one behind the other, and one on the inner tube. Other boys would go ahead and get in the moose wagon to watch the action out the back window while waiting their turns to get on the sled or inner tube.

George would then head out with sled and tube in tow, going about ten to fifteen miles per hour. The fun began when he started making turns since the centrifugal force caused the sled and inner tube to swing out in an arc at an increased rate of speed. The trick was not to have a spill but to remain upright and intact for the next turn. The ride was especially challenging for whoever was on the inner tube since its rope was longer, making the speeds in turns reach two or even three times the speed George was driving.

The increased speed often resulted in the riders losing their grip and tumbling from the sled or inner tube and flying across a ditch and into someone’s front yard at a high rate of speed. The most spectacular spills were the ones everyone watching enjoyed the most.

How in the world George Parks managed to conduct this activity as often as he did without somebody getting seriously injured is one of those mysteries of life, but, as far as I know, there were never any broken arms, legs, or cracked skulls—nothing worse than skins and bruises.

After an hour or so, when every boy had had a turn or two on the sled or tube, George drove back to the Times Office, and everyone warmed up with some hot chocolate while talking excitedly about their rides and spills.

It was a sign of the times back then that George was never arrested or charged with reckless endangerment of children or anything like that. Looking back on it, what amazes me even more from today’s perspective is that the mothers of the town were never up in arms about it, never marched en masse down to the Times Office in protest, and, as far as I know, never even forbade their boys from doing it again.

Like snowmen, snow ice cream, and snowball fights, it was just part of the celebration of winter and the general happiness brought on by a good snow and a holiday from school.

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PLOWGIRLS WIN BLACKWELL TOURNAMENT, BEAT BAIRD AT THE BUZZER

The Roscoe Plowgirls are on a roll. After beating Hawley 39-29 here in Roscoe last week, they won three games in a row to win the Blackwell Tournament last weekend and then followed that with a thrilling overtime victory at Plowboy Gymnasium last night, beating Baird 48-47.

The Plowgirls first game in the Blackwell Tournament was a defeat of the Hermleigh Lady Cardinals 46-27. Lynnsi Moses was the Plowgirls’ top scorer with 11, while Sara Kingston had 8. They then followed that with a win over the Westbrook Lady Wildcats 29-25. Sara Kingston led the Plowgirls with 12, while Moses had 6.

The championship game was also against Westbrook, and the Plowgirls had to come from behind at the last minute to win it 34-33. In this one Moses had 14 and Kingston 11.

Last night’s game against Baird was an overtime thriller. The lead went back and forth the entire game with the Plowgirls and the Lady Bears tied at the end of regulation 45-45. In overtime, the Plowgirls jumped out to a quick 48-45 lead and then went into something of a stall, passing the ball around to one another until only about a minute was left, when they got an easy layup shot but missed.

Baird went down and quickly scored, making it a one-point game. After another Plowgirl missed shot, they got the ball back and called time out with nine seconds left. When play resumed, they tried to run a play but had to settle for a long shot, which they missed, and the game was over.

High scorers for the Plowgirls were Kingston and Moses with 14 apiece, while Mirian Solis had 8 and Faith Boren 6. The Plowgirls’ next action is at the Highland Tournament, which starts on Thursday and runs through the weekend.

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PLOWBOYS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE, LOSE AT BLACKWELL AND TO BAIRD

The Roscoe Plowboys started strong last night and at the end of the first quarter were tied with the Baird Bears 11-11. But their lack of size and experience cost them in the second quarter and for the rest of the game as they wound up on the wrong end of a 66-37 score.

The score was made even worse by the fact that the Plowboys played over half of the last quarter with only four players, while Baird had the usual five. The Plowboys had only six players suited up for the game, and two of them fouled out, leaving only the other four to finish the game. High scorer for the Plowboys was Jesus Leanos with 16, followed by Keeston Ford with 10.

The Plowboys didn’t have any better luck at the Blackwell Tournament last weekend, losing to Hermleigh 54-27 and to Westbrook 46-37. In the Hermleigh game, Leanos had 14 points and Dillon Freeman 7, and in the Westbrook game Leanos had 19 and Freeman 6.

The Plowboys’ next action is at the Highland Tournament this weekend.

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HIGH SCHOOL STOCK SHOW AND CHRISTMAS PARADE BOTH TO BE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17

Both the Roscoe Collegiate High School’s FFA Stock Show and the City of Roscoe's Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, December 17.

The Stock Show, which will be held at the School Barn on the School Farm, will begin at 10:00am and will feature competition in cattle, pigs, goats, and lambs. There will be a lunch there followed by a dessert auction in which cakes and pies will go to the highest bidder, with proceeds benefitting the Roscoe FFA. The RCHS agriculture teacher, J. J. Caswell, will be in charge of the event.

The Christmas Parade will be held in downtown Roscoe at 1:00pm. Line-up for participants will be at 400 E. Broadway at 12:30pm.

Santa Claus will be available for children in the Roscoe Community Center immediately following the parade. Parade marshal is Roscoe Chief of Police, Felix Pantoja. For more information, call 325-514-8384.